Grizzlies Have Competitive Start To Season

The Grace boys basketball team took on two familiar foes in their opening week of the season.  The two games ended up being very competitive games that were a thrill for fans to watch.

The Grizzlies started the season on their home court hosting the West Side Pirates.  These teams have played each other every year for as long as any of the players can remember.  Most previous games ended in tight single digit finishes with the overall series being pretty even.  Both teams like to play fast and physical and none of that would change in this game.  In the fast paced game the Pirates were able to grab the early lead going up by five points in the first.  Grace did fight back just as often happens in this match up and when the quarter came to a close the score was tied.

In the second quarter the Grizzlies saw several struggles in the game.  Several missed deep shots lead to long rebounds and fast break opportunities for West Side.  That combined with an effective press by the Pirates lead to an eight point lead for West Side.  Following a brief timeout Grace would once again fight their way back into the game by scoring seven of the last nine points in the quarter and the teams went to halftime with the Grizzlies trailing by three.

Through the first half of the third period both teams went cold with very little scoring happening.  At that midway point Grace was once again able to tie the score up.  After a made foul shot the teams were now separated by just one point which resulted in a back and forth exchange of leads for the next few possessions.  The Grizzlies briefly built a small three point lead  before the game was once again tied up as the third quarter ended.

West Side started the fourth by going on a run and building a five point lead but just as had been the case all game long with about three minutes left Grace tied the game again.  The back and forth continued until the Pirates got a one point lead with thirty seconds left.  With the Pirates trying to run clock Grace was forced to foul to stop the clock.  Unfortunately the Pirates made both shots and extended the lead to three.  With just eight seconds left Grace used a timeout to try and set up a three point play.  Out of the timeout West Side intercepted a passed ball and was fouled.  West Side hit one of the foul shots and the buzzer shot by the Grizzlies was missed leading to a four point victory for West Side.

Following the disappointing loss the Grizzlies traveled to Bear Lake to take on the Bears.  Like the Pirates Grace has had many tough battles with the Bears in Bear Lake.  Last week's game would stay true to this.  The game started out very sloppy and slow.  The Grizzlies took half of the quarter to score their first basket and ended the quarter with just two total baskets made.  Luckily for Grace the Bears didn't do much better but Bear Lake did hold a four point lead at the end of the first.

The second quarter was the complete opposite of the first in terms of scoring.  Just one minute into the second period the Grizzlies had tied the game.  From there both teams went on a scoring explosion and when the first half ended Grace now held a six point lead.

In the third quarter Grace once again made several miscues.  The Grizzlies largest lead got to eight points but by the time the third quarter ended the Grizzlies led by just two points.

The slim two point lead would not last long for Grace.  Bear Lake tied the game on their first possession of the quarter.  Then just one minute later the Bears got their first lead since early in the second quarter.  The Grizzlies spent the next several minutes missing good opportunities to score and the Bear lead grew to six points.  Bear Lake continued to hold the lead until the last minute of regulation.  With just forty seconds left the Grizzlies were able to hit a big shot to take a one point lead.  Bear Lake responded quickly bringing the ball down court where they were fouled with just twenty seconds left.  After hitting one out of two foul shots each team unsuccessfully had a chance for the win in regulation.  The clock hit zero and we were all tied up and set for overtime.

Just one minute into the overtime Grace regained the lead and never looked back.  The Grizzlies put up fifteen points in the extra time and won the game by their largest lead of the night nine points.  One bright spot for the Grizzly coaches and fans is that all nine varsity players scored in both games last week showing that they have plenty to work with moving forward. The Grizzlies will take part in the Ririe Bulldog Shootout this week before returning home for a game against Aberdeen in two weeks.

Grizzlies 11 13 14 8 46

Pirates 11 16 11 12 50

D.Hill 3, B.Kimball 12, G.Draper 12, C.Andersen 3, C.Reeves 2, C.Welch 4, P.Yost 5, B.Smith 2, L.Moss 3

Grizzlies 5 19 8 10 15 57

Bears 9 9 12 12 6 48

D.Hill 5, B.Kimball 16, G.Draper 3, C.Andersen 4, C.Reeves 2, C.Welch 10, P.Yost 4, B.Smith 6, L.Moss 7